The decision struck down federal laws limiting how much a donor can give in total to all federal candidates (the limit of giving $2,600 per candidate per election remains in place).

Oregon political observers say they expect that will likely bring more out-of-state money into congressional campaigns here.

"It could propel money into Oregon" from big donors nationally, said Lori Hardwick, a top Republican fundraiser in Portland.

Hardwick and others noted that Oregon has only a tiny number of wealthy political donors who bump up against the national limits ($48,600 per election cycle for all individual candidates and $74,600 total to all federal political action committees and parties) that were struck down by the court.

But this decision allows Oregon campaigns to start hunting for donations among big givers in such wealthy areas as New York and Los Angeles.

Jake Weigler, a Democratic political consultant in Portland, said Oregon has always had a certain appeal for big national donors because it's a relatively cheap state to mount a campaign in.

Political operatives, he said, "see Oregon as an easy opportunity to pick up a seat," at least financially speaking.

Added Mark Weiner, another Democratic consultant in Portland: "It certainly does increase the ability of really monied interests to play on the national chessboard."

One thing that won't be affected by the decision: Oregon's state races, for such positions as governor and legislator. Oregon is one of only 12 states with no limits on the size of political donations to candidates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Supreme Court decision covered only campaign spending in federal races. But as Perkins Coie's law and politics blog pointed out, it's hard to see how the eight states that limit how much an individual can spend in aggregate on candidates will be able to continue with those restrictions.

As many commentators pointed out Wednesday, the biggest impact of the decision is that it signals that the Supreme Court may be moving in the direction of removing any limits on campaign donations.

If that's the case, the entire system may come to resemble what Oregon already sees in its state races.